Jason and I met with the financial services people today to set up her college savings fund and get the ins and outs of it.
Do your own research, but the 529 investment fund seems like a good bet to us. We put the money in (after taxes) and as long as the funds are used for a 'school' that is eligible for federal funding (college, trade schools, etc) the growth on our investment is tax free. Unlike the GET program where you purchase tuition credits, this fund allows for more flexibility of where the money can be used and it can be used for education related expenses - books, housing - that sort of thing.
If Lucy gets scholarship money we can pull out the same amount without a tax penalty. (NICE.) It can also be transferred to anyone we like, so if the child displeases us we can give the money to a better child.
In the car on the way home from the meeting Jason said "Maybe Lucy will be stupid and we can use the money to go to that culinary school in Italy that we were talking about." I wouldn't bank on that being the case, but maybe she will be so bright that colleges will be lining up to cover her expenses.
The bright spot (for me) is that the money people told us that if we invest $100 a month starting now, she should be fully covered for an in state university such as UW or WSU. If she "has" to go to Oxford in England then she'd better get cracking on the books as we're only planning on funding an in state education. It was nice to hear that we're not totally behind the 8-ball.
2 comments:
I can't believe you are wasting valuable parenting time on college fund options when the spectre of getting her into the best preschool lingers just around the corner. It astonishes me when I read blogs like this one from well-meaning but naive parents who imagine that the little dear is just going to "be" smart or "be" stupid. If she's just going to "be" smart or stupid, what do you think the right preschool is supposed to be for?
If you insist on putting the college fund cart before the preschool horse, there is little the dear one can do. We cannot choose our parents, after all. But it is sad to see you setting this infant on the path toward settling for some sad $100 a month state school dream (or even WSU). Take it from me, if you get the preschool right, she'll never have to see the inside of Pullman. Instead, she'll develop the brains and motor skills to write her own ticket--the two words on that ticket: "Fencing Scholarship".
Sorry, please disregard the above. These are your own personal parenting decisions. You need to be given the space to grow, learn and make your own mistakes. Again, sorry to have commented at all.
You have once again made me LLOL (literally laugh out loud). This time you did it by writing "if the child displeases us we can give the money to a better child."
You need to stop being so funny because it is making me intimidated about the idea of starting my own blog.
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